The Return
by apigeonandaquill
Summary: Set immediately after Balasaam, before Ashley disappears. Nikola has a plan. A plan involving James. A plan Helen is either going to kiss him or kill him for.


**Set immediately after Balasaam, before Ashley disappears. Nikola has a plan. A plan involving James. A plan Helen is either going to kiss him or kill him for.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sanctuary.**

**The Return**

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He wasn't sure at all why he was doing it. Stealing a body wasn't ever one of his best ideas, even if that body was the body of one of the best friends he'd ever had. When everyone realised that James' corpse had disappeared, some were going to start looking. And if they found Nikola at the end of the trail, he knew he was going to be one seriously dead vampire. Well, as close to a dead vampire as he could get, as a vampire, that was. Right now, however, that didn't matter, at all. What mattered was getting James somewhere safe, fast, and then getting to work.

His safehouse was small and messy, and definitely not a place that brought Doctor Frankenstein-esque experiments to the forefront of one's mind. He wheeled in James to the corner of his living room, and then immediately got to work, removing the ice-packs he'd placed around his body and murmuring a 'sorry, really, I am, old chap' as quietly as he could. Being quiet was a must, he didn't want the neighbours calling the police about what was going on in apartment 333. Nikola steeled himself, closing his eyes and telling himself to calm, and then placed his hands over the center of James' chest where his machine used to be, sending a burst of electricity through his body. He hoped he had the right voltage, it was mostly guesswork on his part, he was never one for experimenting on animals, that was Edison's kind of thing, and experimenting on himself would just have been pointless since he was alive and wasn't going to stop being that way any time soon. Relieved to find that it had actually worked first time and that James' heart had restarted, weak and far-too-slow but beating, he moved onto the second phase of his work; the vampire blood. His own blood to be precise, since none of the source blood was around and he was hardly going to walk up to the Kabal and demand it back. A shot into James' vein, and then he waited, none-too-patiently.

He'd never been good at waiting, really. Not in lunch-queues at university, nor in the library for a book to study from, nor for Helen to give up moping for old Johnny-dearest and to fall in love with him. Certainly, he was just as impatient when waiting to see whether his little gamble had paid off.

A slow smile spread over his face, as the years literally rolled back in front of his eyes, James' skin becoming smoother, his hair turning to black and growing back thick and almost wavy, as if someone had ruffled it. Thicker, longer, than it had been three hours ago in Balasaam. "Good." He chirped, somewhat more happy with himself. "Aren't I a genius?" He gripped James' wrist with his slender fingers, feeling his heart beating stronger, his smile growing wider as James gasped for breath, his body trembling as the vampire blood spread through his veins. "Definitely good."

Of course, Helen would call him selfish. There wasn't the slightest doubt about that, but Nikola right now honestly didn't give a damn. James was back and he was alive and he'd be perfectly alright. He wasn't quite himself right now, perhaps, but all would perk up in a few days. He knew James would have his own mind, still.

He sauntered back over, perching on the chair next to him, trailing his fingertips idly across James' cheek, almost tender, almost sweet. "You've slept long enough, Jamie. Time to accept your new destiny, and all that jazz."

James' lips pulled back into a smile, and his teeth had sharpened into fangs. His fingers shot out and gripped Nikola's wrist gently but firmly, and his nails had elongated into claws. "Gorgeous. Always knew you'd make an excellent specimen. I pity Helen and Johnny, when they're faced with the new you. Won't be able to contain themselves." A smirk dragged at Nikola's own mouth; he was enjoying his success, and therefore enjoying teasing James all the more than he usually would.

James Watson's eyes opened then, and they were black as night, but still soft through the hunger, still gentle, still intelligent, still James.

And Nikola knew then, that no matter what happened with Ashley's sudden illness and the Kabal's plan and Helen, everything would be alright in the world.


End file.
